Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said on Fox News Monday that it’s time to curb the powers of activist district courts.
President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to accelerate the deportation of Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia, however, issued an injunction and required the Trump administration to bring back two planes of gang members on their way to El Salvador. During an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle,” Hawley said he was frustrated with the misuse of judicial authority through so-called nationwide injunctions.
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“The key thing to do here, Laura, is to end the ability of these district courts to abuse their judicial authority by issuing these so-called nationwide injunctions,” Hawley told host Laura Ingraham. “I don’t think they have that authority, properly speaking, under the Constitution, Article III. What they’re doing is they’re purporting these judges, they’re purporting to go out, and to bind parties and individuals who aren’t before them [in their districts].”
Hawley said such actions exceed their constitutional authority.
“We only have one Supreme Court that can bind the whole nation. District courts aren’t supposed to be able to do it, and yet President Trump has been subject already to 15 separate, so-called nationwide injunctions,” Hawley said. “In his first term, Laura, there were 64. We have never seen anything like this in American history. It’s incredibly abusive, and Congress ought to end it, and we can end it by just saying, ‘No nationwide injunctions by these district courts.’”
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Hawley said this was unprecedented and highly abusive, urging Congress to intervene.
“The Constitution expressly gives to Congress the ability to create the lower courts. The lower courts are not in the Constitution, per se. Congress has the ability to create them, to govern them. I don’t believe that under Article III, these district courts even have the power to issue these nationwide injunctions,” Hawley said. “I think it’s abusive. And that’s why we ought to just say they can’t do it. Congress has the authority to govern them. We should say they do not have the power to issue injunctions nationwide, period. End of story, no more abuse.”
The continuous misuse of judicial powers by district courts, Hawley said, calls for a decisive response from Congress, not just to protect the presidency but to preserve the integrity of the judicial system.
“I noticed that the Democrats, just a few months ago, before the election of Donald Trump, were complaining bitterly about Republican-appointed judges issuing nationwide injunctions. So I had to say this. Let’s have a vote,” Hawley said. “They said they wanted to eliminate nationwide injunctions seven months ago. OK. Let’s do it. Let’s now give them the chance to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak, and let’s vote on it. I think that this ought to be a no-brainer. Let’s stop the abuse. Here’s the thing. We’ve seen this before. You put judges into office. You think they’re going to be good. They drift left. Let’s take away the power of these judges to issue injunctions like this.”
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Upon assuming office on Jan. 20, President Trump signed several executive orders aimed at curbing illegal immigration, designating Mexican drug cartels, TdA, and MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations. Allegations have surfaced of TdA members engaging in the seizure of apartment complexes in Aurora, Colo., in addition to committing kidnapping and murder.
In response to the Trump administration’s policies, Democratic states and unions have consistently filed lawsuits, leading various judges to grant nationwide injunctions that stall these initiatives. In retaliation, Republican lawmakers are actively considering legislation that would prevent district judges from issuing nationwide blocks on certain executive actions.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
